Brown Paper Packages
by Flash Cat
Summary: Jessie receives a package from the most unlikely person. Little did she know that the same package contained a lesson, just for her.
1. The Arrival

Jessie and Barbie were never really friends. Sure, they sometimes exchanged an occasional smile, maybe even a shy "hey," but seldom did they ever interact past courteous greetings. The two did have a chance to become close, however, ten years to be precise, but Jessie was always more of a horse ridin,' Woody botherin' gal. Barbie? Well, Barbie was just…Barbie, and besides, even Woody knew that the girls could never become more than acquaintances.

Naturally, the deputy was surprised when he came across a small package lodged in the bottom of Bonnie's backpack with Jessie's name printed across the top in perfect cursive. There was only one person he knew who could have such flawless handwriting, and that person was blond, easily excitable, and lived for rainbow leg warmers. Looking over his shoulder, Woody carefully tucked the parcel under his hat, which he slid under Bonnie's wicker toy basket for the time being. He turned around, and was abruptly taken aback by the sight of a short felt rag doll with purple hair.

"Sheriff lost his hat?" inquired Dolly with a smirk, her felt hands perched on her hips.

"Oh, Dolly, hey," He mumbled, a slightly guilty expression perched on his face. Dolly dismissed the look and gave the back of his knee a hearty pat.

"Buzz sent me to ask you if you're ready to start the meeting. Everyone's waiting from you…" she trailed off, still eying Woody's face. "Are you okay?"

"Okay? Uh…here. Take a look at this." Woody said, grabbing the package as Dolly looked on quizzically.

"Right…it's a package for Jessie."

"I know."

"From Barbie?"

"Yes." There was a silence

"Let's open it!" Dolly suddenly exclaimed mischievously. Woody looked endearingly into her googly eyes.

"You know, it's so great having someone around who thinks like me." Dolly's face reddened a fraction.

"Yeah, well…"She said quietly, but then perked up again almost immediately. "So are we gonna open it?" Woody grinned, sat down, crossed his legs Indian-style, and began plucking at the wrappings of the package, trying not to damage the paper.

"Almost got it," he grunted, finally parting the paper to reveal the item inside.

"Oh, wow," whispered Dolly, "It's so…"

"Not Jessie," Woody finished for her, thumbing the object. "I wonder why she would send it?" Dolly looked over her shoulder.

"Uh, Woody? Buzz is coming." Quickly, Woody stuffed the item back into the parcel and wrapped it up exactly like before. Jamming his hat onto his head, Woody kicked the package farther under the toy basket, and then started walking towards Buzz.

"Hey howdy hey, Buzz," Woody drawled, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. "Lookin' for me?"

"What was taking you so long? Everyone wants to hear from Sunnyside." Buzz questioned, his eyes narrowed.

"Right, I got the letter right here." Woody pulled a toy-sized envelope out of his back pocket. Ever since Bonnie's mom came across the usual 8-and-a-half-by-eleven-inch note that Ken sent over, the toys had to be more careful with being subtle in their communication. Luckily, she thought the letter was a joke and left it in Bonnie's room, but it certainly caused a large amount of worry.

Deciding not to mention the package that came along with it, Woody started over to the rest of the toys, who were anxiously waiting to hear about what was happening at Sunnyside.

"Okay, okay, settle down," Buzz rumbled, his gruff voice immediately quieting the crowd. Woody nodded a 'thank-you' in his direction.

"Alright, so we got a letter today from Ken…and it says," Woody suddenly chuckled. "Ah, I can't do the voice. Hey Buttercup, you wanna read again this week?"

"I'd love to," He said with a bow, as the rest of the toys cheered. Jessie in particular took interest to Buttercup's little act, and giggled as he began to read.

"_Hey guys! What's up?"_ He gushed flamboyantly, "_Sunnyside is super great as usual. So far, Zurg hasn't tried to turn the place into an evil dictatorship yet, but we'll let you know!_" He paused, as the audience sniggered into their hands at Buttercup's imitation of Ken.

"Go on, go on," gasped Woody between chuckles. Buttercup nodded with a smile and began to read once again.

"_So, something so totally cool happened yesterday!_" He continued, "_We saw Lotso, and you'll never guess where! Okay, I guess I'll have to tell you._" Buttercup paused for effect. "_He was strapped to the front of a garbage truck! Funny, right? Right!_" Woody shook his head and laughed. He was just beginning wonder what happened to the traitorous teddy bear. "_Oh, I gotta go you guys, Barbie needs me! We're taking care of Big Baby tonight!_" The crowd that had been once resided at Sunnyside shuddered at the name. "_Hugs and kisses, Ken_," finished Buttercup, nearly out of breath. Bonnie's toys gave him a rowdy applause as he bowed, and placed the letter off to the side.

"Alright, that's it for today. Oh!" Woody smacked his fist against his palm like he remembered something. "Bonnie and her mother will be out tonight, visiting relations, so they won't be back until tomorrow morning." A collective murmur arose from the crowd, not sure how to react to the news. Sure, they loved having a break from her hectic playtimes, but they loved being with Bonnie as well.

Woody later found Jessie lounging across Bullseye and stroking him lovingly when he walked over, the package heavy in his arms. As he approached the cowgirl, her jade eyes bore sweetly into his brown ones and twinkled in absolute delight.

"Woody!" She shouted in glee, hopping off Bullseye and squeezing Woody as hard as she possibly could. The hug ended shortly, however, as she eyed the package he held behind his back. "A present?" She asked. Woody nodded and handed it to her, and Jessie proceeded to tear back the wrapping by a miniscule amount before she stopped. "I-I'll be right back," She murmured, dashing out of Bonnie's room. As Woody watched her retreating figure, Dolly stepped over and tugged at his jeans.

"Is she okay?" She asked, more curious than worried.

"I don't know…" A large grin had suddenly seeped onto Woody's plastic face. "Should we go find out?" Dolly smirked and led him by the pants out the door and down the hall.

"If anywhere, she'd be in the spare bedroom. There's a mirror in there." The two exchanged impish smiles before running quietly to the tiny room and up to the doorway.

* * *

Righty, folks. This is my first ever multi-chaptered fic. It started out as a oneshot, but eh, it got long. But doesn't it comfort you to know that it is entirely pre-written?

So what's in that package?


	2. Rejection, Persuasion

The spare room was quite small, and dull, giving off the feeling that no one had been in it for years. The floorboards were worn down and in desperate need of a good sweeping. An old bed sat in the corner, its mattress sagging, and bronze frame unpolished. Other than that, an ugly, out of tune piano, and mirror propped against the foot of the bed, the space was very barren.

Jessie had settled herself in front of the mirror, legs splayed out in front of her, as she began tearing the packaging off of the dress that lay inside. Yes, it was a dress, and a very pretty one too; pure white, with a petticoat and yellow polka dots the color of Jessie's ribbon. Even stranger, it looked like it would fit Jessie perfectly. She was a ragdoll, Jessie knew, and her clothes were sewn onto her body for her entire life. The prospect of having something else to wear, let alone a dress, was enough to make her curious to pull it over her head. Lo and behold, it fit like a glove, the bottom of it just dusting the top her boots, and the neck of it meeting her collar perfectly. It still wasn't right though. Her chaps appeared to be plain wrong under the delicate, lacy petticoat that floated underneath the actual dress, and her sleeves looked just dumb. Snapping her fingers suddenly, Jessie addressed the problem by rolling up her pants as high as they would go, and pulled the cuffs down inside-out. There. Much prettier.

The sound of rustling paper drew Jessie out of her thoughts and she jumped at the sudden noise, but let out a sigh of relief as she found that it was just a piece of paper. The paper was so small, that most would let it go unnoticed, but Jessie's never ending curiosity got the better of her and she crouched down to pick it up.

'_Dear Jessie-'_ She paused. A letter?

' _Hey! It's me, Barbie! But I guess that you already knew that. Look, I know that we were never really friends or anything-' _Jessie snorted. Right she was. '_But I've been thinking lately. About everyone. And all mostly good things, except for you. _Jessie froze. What? The girl had good things to think about with everyone else, even the snippy and occasionally nasty Mr. Potato head, and _nothing_ about her? Jessie wanted to stop reading, she really did. But that curiosity…

_ 'Ahh! I wish I wasn't writing in pen! That sounded bad…doesn't it?'_ Oh, Barbie, you have no idea. _'Anyways, I really couldn't stop thinking about one tiny thing about you. You're probably really wondering what it is, huh? Well… in all of my ten years of being at Andy's, I have NEVER EVER EVER seen you in a dress. And let's face it Jessie, you're pretty. Like, really really pretty. In that unique, spunky, crazy way, but it doesn't matter the type. What matters is, you need to shine!' _Goodness, that was corny. '_Take that hat off, let your hair down, and put on that dress! Do me a favor and flaunt what you got. In front of Buzz, preferably. And yes, we all know about you two. So go on, get that dress on!_

_Love, Barbie!_

Oh no. Oh, no no no. Sure, wearing a dress was fine and everything, while Jessie was just sitting alone in a next-to-empty room, but by the others? Sighing, the cowgirl doll brought her knees to her chest. What made her like this? So afraid to even approach anything that even hinted at being girly?

"I've always been like that," she whispered to herself. She had always associated 'feminine' with 'weak,' which was not something that she wanted to be while stuck in storage for forty-plus years. Letting out a deep breath, Jessie made up her mind, and pretty as it was, started to peel off the dress.

* * *

"What's she doing?" Dolly hissed to Woody, who was peering at Jessie through the doorway.

"Oh, no! She's taking it off!" He whispered back, silently willing her to put it back on and waltz out the door. Dolly's eyes widened and a look of horror crossed her adorable, rag-doll-y features.

"No! No, I will not let it go down like this!" She said, receiving a shushing from Woody. Swatting his finger away from his lips, she added, "We have to intervene! She's going out in that dress whether she wants to or not!"

"But how?"

"We can stumble in all giggly, like we wanted a little alone time," Dolly smirked, doing her best to put the last two words in air-quotations. "And use our powers of persuasion to convince her to wear that dress!" Woody pondered this idea.

"Alone time, huh?" He grinned, winking at Dolly, who raised an eyebrow

"You ain't getting' any of this today, mister." She said, swinging her hips. Laughing loudly, he grabbed Dolly's felt hand and dragged her willingly into the spare room.

The two had arrived just in time, as Jessie had just lifted the dress over her head when Woody and Dolly stumbled in happily, giggling and holding hands. Surprised, Jessie dropped the dress back down as the two froze, acting as if they had gotten caught. The cowgirl's eyes narrowed at the unlikely couple. What were they doing in here, chewing their lips and looking all guilty? Finally, Woody broke through the silence when he coughed out a little chuckle.

"Erm, sorry, I didn't know this room was, uh, occupied." He furrowed his brows and pulled Dolly a bit closer.

"Not an issue, Woody…I can, uh, leave if you wan-"

"No, no, it's no problem." Dolly cut her off, eying the dress. Jessie swallowed hard. She had forgotten that she had it on! Did she look stupid? Why were they staring at her?

"Jess, is that a dress you have on?" Asked Woody, a high note of surprise in his voice.

"Uh…i-it's nothing…I was about to take it off," Jessie blurted, quickly lifting up the skirt. Before she could hike it up much higher, however, both Woody and Dolly were hurriedly slapping her hands away.

"No. No, no, no no no," scolded Dolly. "You are going to go back into Bonnie's room, and show Buzz-" Woody shot her a look, "-I mean everyone, your adorable sweet, gentle, totally not loud or crazy or potentially obnoxious side. In that dress." Jessie scowled at Dolly's outburst.

"Obnoxious?"

"_Potentially_ obnoxious, honey." Dolly said, patting Jessie on the back. Attempting shoot daggers at Dolly through his eyes, Woody stepped over and used a gruff, reassuring voice.

"Jessie, look. I know you hate the idea of other people seeing you in a dress. I don't know why, and I won't pry for it, but look at you!" Jessie squeaked in surprise as Woody pulled her up by the hand and twirled her in a circle. The dress spun with her, swirling out only slightly, but just enough to make her seem lighter than air. As Woody spun her more and more, but slowly, so she wouldn't get dizzy, she let out a small laugh.

"I guess I really do like it," She pondered aloud softly, letting the smooth rhythm of the spinning calm her. "Okay, I'll go with you, but you gotta promise me one thing." Both Dolly and Woody looked at her quizzically.

"What?" Dolly nearly demanded. "Anything at all, girl, you name it."

"Don't leave me alone!" Chuckled Jessie. A kind smile graced Woody's thin lips

"You got it, partner." He whispered reassuringly, linking her elbow in his.

Together, arm in arm, the trio started into the hall, Jessie uncertain, but Woody and Dolly looking more excited than parents on their child's wedding day. It was true that Jessie had no idea what to expect, but looking on at the beaming faces of her family, made her realize that no matter what happened, it was worth it.

* * *

Yay! They convinced her! Thanks for all the reviews/ favs/ watches! They really warm my toasty heart :) Next chapter is last, and will be very short, more of an epilogue than anything...

So those of you who guessed dress, give yourself a pat on your back! Also, if you wanna see her dress, there's a picture on my Deviantart called Princess of The Prairie. Link in my profile!


	3. New Beginnings

Last chapter :C Sorry it's so short! I hope you enjoyed it!

* * *

Jessie hadn't really grasped the concept before that jaws could actually drop, let alone make a sound. Yet there she was, linked to Woody and Dolly, (who wouldn't wipe those smug looks off their faces), and surrounded by a soft, wet popping noise of parting lips. Her green eyes rested on everyone, seeking, almost pleading for their opinion. Mrs. Potato head had the beginning of a mad grin on her face, followed by Totoro and Trixie who were already cracking huge, face-splitting smiles. Rex, who was standing behind Trixie, kept swiveling his head from side to side, trying to judge the others' reactions to base his own on. The other boys merely looked on in amazement, the haze of desire surrounding them so thickly, it would take a knife to cut through it. Finally, Jessie's eyes linked to Buzz's deep blue ones. Their contact didn't break as he walked over to her, looked her up and down, and continued staring. As her heartbeat accelerated, Buzz gathered up a handful of dress, studied it, then dropped it, almost as if he thought the gift was a hallucination.

She really didn't know why, but what the space ranger did next came as a complete surprise. His previously gaping mouth tightened into a wide, sincere smile, as Jessie's heart continued to pound out a drum beat. Suddenly, Buzz pulled her into his arms and lowered her into a dip, while the other toys watched and waited in silence. Jessie merely squeaked. How'd he turn Spanish so fast?

"Jess," he started in complete, flawless English. "You look great!" She laughed, throwing her arms around his neck and nearly sending the both of them sprawling to the floor. The room erupted in wolf-whistles and squeals from the girls, all of them gushing about how fabulous she looked. All of the extra attention made her blush, and she forgot why she never wanted to wear the dress in the first place.

Amid all of the fervor, Buzz had pushed his way out of the crowd, almost dragging Jessie with him.

"Buzz?" She asked, flustered, as he had suddenly dipped her onto his knee once again. "What's all this?" The ranger had merely winked before sending her into a series of spins and twirls. "Buzz!" Jessie giggled between moves.

Woody and Dolly sat watching from a distance, their arms still tightly linked together.

"Say," Dolly though aloud. "How do they dance?" Woody glanced at her questioningly.

"Well, anyone can dance, Dolly." Woody stated, earning himself a punch in the arm.

"I know that, I'm not stupid. I mean, how do they dance with no music?" Winking, Woody pulled her up and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"It's called 'invisible music.' Here, lemme show you." Throat locked up, Dolly's eyes darted back and forth from Woody's hand to his warm expression.

"O-okay." She choked out, as Woody laughed and pulled her into the throng of fur and plastic.

Jessie smiled at her friend twirling along with Woody, who seemed to be begrudgingly enjoying herself. Sending out a telepathic 'thank you' to Barbie, she began to ponder what the blond doll had really sent in that package. Sure, it was a dress, but in reality, it was so much more. By sending that package, Barbie had pushed her closer together to both old friends and new. Whether she knew it or not, she had overcome the impossible. How? By sending new beginnings in a brown-paper package.


End file.
